Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World (21 page)

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^{Cloth Pads}

We couldn’t resist putting this project in the Month to Month section, though, unlike the results of other projects here, these pads are made to last for years. Cloth menstrual pads are really, truly, genuinely pleasant to use. Until you try one, you can’t know what a relief it is to feel natural fabric against your skin, to be free of bleach, perfumes, creepy gel cores, and those fiddly little plastic strips.

Cloth pads aren’t made from trees, they ease the burden on landfills, and they can be made inexpensively. In short, by using cloth pads, you’ll save money while you’re saving the world. Best of all, if you have a set of these, you can say goodbye to emergency trips to the drugstore.

Pads can be made out of luxurious specialty fabrics, inexpensive remainder material from the fabric store, or repurposed fabric from around the house. The basic pattern we provide can be altered to make pads of all sizes to meet your specific needs. They wash well and don’t wear out quickly.

You’ll need a sewing machine for this project and some basic sewing skills. Nothing fancy, just enough competence to cut a simple pattern and steer the machine. If sewing isn’t possible for you, but you’re curious about cloth pads, look online for pads to buy. While there are a few national brands of cloth pads, making and selling homemade pads online has become a cottage industry. You’ll find all sorts of different styles of pads made by individuals for sale through private Web sites and on sites like
Etsy.com
.

To start, let’s look at the kinds of materials you could use in constructing your pads. Every pad is made up of three basic parts: a top layer, an absorbent core, and a backing material. You can make a pad with almost any kind of fabric, but here are suggestions:

THE TOP

The top layer should feel good against your skin. It should be absorbent, so moisture passes through it. If you want fancy pads, this is where you get to choose fun colors and patterns.

COTTON FLANNEL
is soft and absorbent and easy to find. It’s a favorite among pad makers and can be used to construct the entire pad. The only downside is that cotton flannel can pill and look a little worn after long use.

FLAT COTTON,
like percale or pima cotton (think sheet and dress shirt fabric), is cooler than flannel against the skin and shows less wear. Moisture will pass through it and into the core easily, but it doesn’t add any absorbency to the pad, so you have to factor that in. It’s easy to find flat cotton in different weights and patterns.

Enlarge by approximately 150% until the pad shape measures 10½ inches in length and the rectangle measures 6 inches in length. The rectangular piece will form the two wings.

NATURAL VELOUR OR VELVETEEN
is a luxurious option. The pile makes the surface of the pad feel drier. Natural velour (made of cotton, hemp, or bamboo) is hard to find in stores, though. You’ll probably have to order it online. Synthetic velour is easier to find but not as absorbent.

THE CORE

The core of the pad can be thick or thin, filled with many layers of thin material or one layer of thick material, depending on the type of pad you wish to build. You can mix fabrics in the core.

COTTON FLANNEL
makes a good basic core. One or two layers of flannel make a light pad or panty liner. Add more layers for greater absorbency. The only limit is how thick you wish the pad to be.

TERRY CLOTH
(toweling material) is very absorbent, if thick. Cotton terry is the easiest to find, especially if you’re working out of your rag bag, but bamboo and hemp terry are more absorbent. One or two layers of toweling are usually all you need.

FLEECE MATERIAL
is also absorbent. Bamboo and hemp fleeces must be ordered online, but they are thinner than cotton fleece and hold more moisture, so your pads can be thinner.

THE BACKING

The backing material has a couple of functions. The first is that it is a last line of defense between blood and your clothing, so some women prefer to use a water-resistant backing. But this comes at the cost of breathability. It’s a tradeoff. Pads made with natural fibers do a very good job of wicking the moisture along their length and holding that moisture in. A moisture-resistant backing isn’t really necessary for an average menstrual flow, but it’s a nice backup feature.

Another consideration is fabric texture. To minimize sliding of the pad, it’s best if the backing has a bit of a tooth. This pad is designed to be made with or without wings. Wings help hold it in place. If you opt for the no-wing style, the backing choice becomes more important. We’ll talk about wings later on.

FLANNEL
is a good choice. It has a slight tooth to it, so it doesn’t slide much. It’s breathable, but moisture can pass through it.

CORDUROY
is an excellent no-slip material and darn sporty looking, too. It does not form a moisture barrier, though.

PUL (POLYURETHANE LAMINATE ) FABRIC
has been laminated to be truly waterproof. It comes in natural and synthetic varieties.
PUL
is thin. It can stand up to hot water and dryers, too. It’s unlikely that you’ll find this fabric in local stores. Your best resource would be online sellers of diapering fabrics.

FLEECE
(synthetic or natural) is water resistant (not waterproof) and doesn’t slide around much.

We’ve heard of some women crafting pad backs out of repurposed crib liners and plastic-coated tablecloths and the like. These things would make waterproof pads, but because of their plastic content, they can’t be washed and dried like normal fabric.

REGARDING WINGS

This pattern includes optional wings that snap together. Wings help hold the pad in place. You may or may not want wings. The hourglass shape of the pad helps keep it in place, as does the backing material. If you wear close-fitting underwear, these pads won’t slide much. The one thing you do have to remember when using wingless pads is to be careful when you visit the toilet. The pads can fall in. And that is not pretty. The disadvantages of wings are few, mainly they take extra effort to sew, and if you bike (or ride horses or straddle bar stools, etc.), you might feel the snaps.

REGARDING FASTENERS

You can use different fastening methods for the wings, snaps being the most common. There are several different types of snaps and corresponding ways to attach them, from inexpensive sew-on snaps to expensive snap presses. Examine the offerings at your local fabric or craft stores, and don’t forget to ask your crafty friends if they have a snap setter you could borrow. If you know how to make buttonholes, you can use buttons on the wings. Or you can buy Velcro tabs and sew them to the wings.

Web sites devoted to homemade diapers offer a wealth of information about suitable pad fabrics. The same principles apply, after all. Many of these sites sell high-end diapering materials and may be your best source for absorbent bamboo and hemp fabrics.

A Pad of Your Own

PREPARATION:
1 hour

These instructions show you how to make one basic, medium-weight pad. We encourage you to make one out of fabric you have around the house—an old flannel shirt, perhaps—and give it a test run. Then you can customize the pattern to your liking. For instance, you might prefer a longer or shorter pad or one with a slightly different shape. It’s your call. Once you alter the pattern, you can make a whole bunch of pads in different weights for different phases of your cycle.

YOU’LL NEED

• 11 x 5-inch piece of fabric for the top of the pad
  
• 11 x 5-inch core material of your choice (for instance, 1 piece of toweling or 4 pieces of flannel)
  
• 11 x 5-inch piece of backing fabric
  
• 7 x 7-inch piece of fabric for the wings, probably the same type of material as the top
  
• Pins
  
• Chalk or pen
  
• Sewing scissors
  
• Sewing needle
  
• Spool of cotton thread
  
• 1 set of sew-on snaps, any size (optional)
  

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

PREWASH THE FABRIC

Prewash and dry your fabric if it’s new. Iron if it’s wrinkly.

ENLARGE THE PATTERN

Hand copy or photocopy the pattern (page
138
), enlarging the pattern pieces by approximately 150 percent, so that the pad shape measures 10½ inches long and the rectangle 6 inches. Copy onto cardstock if you prefer a stiff pattern.

CUT THE FABRIC

Stack your top, core, and backing fabric in a neat pile. Pin all four corners of the pile together so the material doesn’t move around. Next, either trace the pad shape onto the top piece of fabric or pin down the pattern on the cloth.

With the sewing scissors, cut around the trace marks or the edges of the pattern piece, cutting all layers of fabric at once so that the pieces match as much as possible. If this is difficult because of the thickness of your stack, separate the stack into two parts.

OPTIONAL: MAKE THE WINGS

You’ll need two matching pieces of fabric, so either cut the 7 x 7-inch piece of wing fabric in half and stack the pieces, or fold it in half. Either way, arrange the fabric so the two good sides face each other. Trace the shape of the wing on the wrong side of the fabric, then cut it out.

Sew a single line of stitching all around the wing, following the dotted line on the pattern, so that you have a ¼-inch seam allowance and slightly rounded corners. (You could cut the shape out after sewing, if that’s easier.)

Cut this rectangle in half across the short side so you have two pieces. Turn the two cut pieces right way around. You’ll have two wings (or two finger puppets) about 2 ½inches long. The raw edges will be sewn into the pad, so don’t worry about them for now.

ARRANGE THE PAD LAYERS

Stack your pad fabric in the following order and pin the pieces together. The sequence may seem counterintuitive, but the pad will be turned inside out after sewing.

From top to bottom:

• Backing, face down
  ^A
  
• Wings (if using)
  ^B
  
• Top material, face up
  ^C
  
• Core fabric, one or more layers
  ^D